Extent

Overview

This collection consists of several small Armed Services Edition books printed for distribution to American military servicemen/women overseas during World War II from 1943 to 1946. The books feature an array of non-fiction titles as well as classics, poetry, cartoons, biographies and fiction titles of various genres. The published books are complete works and not merely digests.

Biographical / Historical

The Armed Services Editions were printed by the Council on Books in Wartime for distribution to American military serving overseas during World War II. The program lasted from 1943-1946 and was intended to be entertainment to soldiers as well as educated them about political, historical, and military issues. The slogan of the Council was "Books are weapons in the war of ideas." The books were printed in their entirety and published small and compact for the convenience of the soldiers overseas.

Arrangement

This collection is located in the Leatherby Libraries basement, room B26, in the first row.